For foreigners purchasing a property in Singapore, ABSD at the applicable rate will be payable.

Under the Free Trade Agreement ABSD Remission, as a US Citizen, you will receive the same Stamp Duty treatment as Singapore Citizens.

If this purchase is your first residential property, you will not incur ABSD. The ABSD rate for the purchase of subsequent residential properties will be based on the applicable rates for Singapore Citizens.

Stamping is not required, and stamp duty is not payable if there is a Novation agreement, provided that:

1. The incoming tenant takes over the remaining lease period from the outgoing tenant, with no change in the lease terms and monthly rent.

2. There is no consideration between the parties.

Find out if you need to file an Income Tax Return for Year of Assessment 2024:

Filing Checker

You may be selected for the Direct Notice of Assessment initiative if you are on No-Filing Service (NFS) and only had auto-included income in the previous year. You do not need to file an Income Tax Return. Your tax bill would be computed based on your income provided by your employer and previous year’s relief claims. A taxpayer selected to receive the Notice of Assessment without the need to file has a legal duty to inform IRAS of any inaccurate information on his income and/or relief claims in his tax bill. There are penalties for failing to do so.

If there is a document executed to extend the lease, stamp duty is payable based on the extended lease period. The lease duty rate is 0.4%.

You can stamp the document at myTaxPortal, click on "Stamp Duty" and under "Stamping" > "Lease/Tenancy" > select "Variation of Lease" under the Nature of Transaction.

Stamp Duty is a tax on document (physical or electronic).

If the tenancy agreement was executed via electronic modes such as WhatsApp, email, websites, or SMS, stamping is still required, and stamp duty is payable.

However, if the rental arrangement is through verbal agreement only, stamping is not required, and Stamp Duty is not payable.

As HDB’s rules require buyers to dispose of their private properties within 6 months of the resale flat purchase, ABSD remission will be given upfront to purchasers of HDB flats. Hence you would not need to pay ABSD when you purchase the flat.

Refunds may be allowed on rescinded or cancelled documents which have not been ""made use of"" if all the conditions are met under the Terminated Lease Remission.

Application for refund under this remission has to be made within 6 months from the date of termination. If approved, Lease Duty in excess of $50 will be refunded to the party liable, i.e. the tenant/lessee.

ABSD remission under the Free Trade Agreement will apply if the individual is a citizen of the United States of America (US). He/She will receive the same Stamp Duty treatment as Singapore Citizens.

Therefore, if an individual who is a US citizen jointly purchases a residential property with his/her spouse, the ABSD Spouses Remission may be applicable. ABSD will be remitted if all conditions are met, and they do not own any other residential property.

If there is an increase in rental, you are required to stamp the document under "Variation of Lease" and Stamp Duty is payable based on the difference in rent amount.

Stamp Duty must be paid within 14 days after signing a Contract or Agreement. If the document is signed overseas, payment is due within 30 days after its receipt in Singapore.

A document is only considered duly stamped when full payment is made. A penalty of up to 4 times of the duty payable may be imposed for late payment.

You may refer to IRAS website for the Parties Liable for stamp duty.

Stamp duty is not payable on the transfer of property through an assent to the beneficiaries in accordance to the Will, Intestate Succession Act, or Muslim Law of Inheritance. Therefore, Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) is not applicable to the inherited property.

However, the inherited residential property will be included in the property count when determining the ABSD rate for any subsequent residential property purchase.

Generally, you may claim tax deductions on expenses 'wholly and exclusively' incurred in earning your income. Find out more about deductions for the different types of expenses (e.g. employment expenses, business expenses).

To simplify the tax filing for rental expenses, you may opt to claim the rental expenses based on 15% of the gross rental income derived from the tenanted residential property, instead of the actual amount of deductible expenses incurred. In addition to the 15%, you may claim a deduction on interest paid on the loan taken to purchase the property. Please use the Rental Calculator (XLS, 356 KB) to decide if it is beneficial to claim 15% deemed rental expenses or to claim based on actual rental expenses incurred. Find out more about the Simplification of Claim of Rental Expenses for Individuals (PDF, 247 KB).

Once you are on GIRO payment scheme, your instalment payment for your taxes will continue in May each year to April of the following year, based on a Provisional Instalment Plan (PIP). 

Your PIP is computed based on your tax payable for the previous Year of Assessment (YA). The PIP allows you to enjoy the maximum 12 months instalment. 

The tax instalments will be revised subsequently when your current tax bill is finalised. The tax instalments that you have paid will be used to offset your tax assessed and the instalments for the remaining months will be adjusted accordingly.

Excess payment, if any, will be automatically refunded to you. There is no need for you to make a claim for refund.

If you wish to revise the PIP to an amount that is close to your actual tax payable, please chat with us online.

Log in to myTax Portal with your Singpass to check if IRAS has sent you a filing notification. You may use the Filing Checker to check if you need to file a tax return. Please note that you may still be required to file a tax return even if your employer in the Auto-Inclusion Scheme has transmitted your 2023 employment income to us.

IRAS has introduced a Direct Notice of Assessment (D-NOA) initiative where taxpayers on the No-Filing Service scheme will get their tax bills directly. You may be selected for the D-NOA initiative if you only had auto-included income in the previous year. You do not need to file an Income Tax Return. Your tax bill will be computed based on your income provided by your employer and previous year’s relief claims.

When the lease on your property ends and you have moved back into your home, you have to reapply for the owner-occupier tax rates for your property using ‘Apply/Withdraw for Owner-Occupier Tax Rates’ - digital service.

If the lease is pre-terminated, please apply for the owner-occupier tax rates by writing to us with supporting documents to show that the lease has been pre-terminated. You may refer to the section above on “Applying for owner-occupier tax rates” for some examples of supporting documents that you can provide to show that the lease has been pre-terminated.